Posts

How to Safely Wipe and Dispose of an Old External Hard Drive

Image
 Remove your older external hard disk in the best method. Some people do all sorts of crazy methods to eliminate old data and get rid of dead, old hard drives. If it's throwing the drive in a fire pit, or soaking it in diluted acid hydrochloric or crushing it down with a sledgehammer Your efforts will be better used wiping and getting rid of your old hard drive in the proper method. Wiping Your Old External Hard Drive If you're struggling with a collection of old storage devices in the storage space It's the time to get an efficient hard drive storage system or get rid of the drives completely. If you're looking to clear out old data and start with a new amount of storage, you can cleanse your computer. Whileit's not any time difficult however, you must keep in mind that this can lower the lifespan of the external hard drive. If you're certain you're never going to be using an old hard drive and you're trying to eliminate the information prior to recycli...

How do you dispose of old hard drives

Image
 How to securely dispose of old hard disk drives and SSDs Go to your local computer store and ask if they’ll take old drives for recycling. Apple Stores will recycle old industries for free, and I believe other stores charge a small fee, but that money goes to charity. Some companies specialize in taking hard drives out of electronics and recycling them responsibly. There are three things you should know about this option. First, hard drives contain a lot of sensitive information that you might not want anyone to see. Even if the data is encrypted (as it should be), there are ways to get around encryption. If your drive has an operating system, it can sometimes be cracked open, and the data read directly from the disk.  Second, hard drives don’t last forever. They have a limited lifespan, and they do eventually fail. This can happen soon after being removed from the computer or many years later. Third, you can’t trust the company that might be making the data recovery. Even if...

Hard Drive Destruction: The Five Methods You Need To Know

Image
 Hard drive destruction doesn't have to be a time consuming and difficult process. In fact, it doesn't even have to involve a hammer and a drill. There are several simple methods you can use to safely dispose of your old hard drives , but which one is the best? We've got some answers. 1. How to destroy a hard drive without a drill So, how do you destroy a hard drive if you don’t have a drill? As it turns out, a hammer is all you need. You can use a hammer to smash it, you can use a hammer to drill through it, you can use a hammer to destroy it.If you have any interest in hard drive destruction, it might be best to first look into the three ways above before you totally blow up your old drive. 2. How to destroy a hard drive with a drill In the event that you need to destroy a hard drive because it has sensitive information on it that you can’t risk falling into the wrong hands, you can destroy the hard drive with a drill. If you drill a hole into the center of the hard drive...

Recycling Your Used Hard Drives A Guide to Data Erasure and Hard Drive Destruction

Image
If you’ve got a bunch of old hard drives on your hands, you’re not alone. As we upgrade from one version of Mac OS to another, or we move from Windows XP to Windows 7, we often have hard drives left over. And while you might be tempted to keep them around in case you need them again someday, the truth is: they’re dangerous and need to be destroyed. 1. How to recycle old hard drives Recycling your computer's old hard drive is an easy way to help the environment. Before throwing away your old hard drive, you'll want to make sure that you have removed any personal data from it. You can use a disk-wiping software to do this, which takes just a few minutes. And after you’re done, you can recycle the hard drive later at a recycling center. 2. The problems with hard drives As a business owner, you can’t afford to lose any data. Here are two common scenarios where hard drives fail: 1) you’re backing up your data and something goes wrong - like the hard drive crashes, or the computer th...

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Recycle Your Old Hard Drives.

Image
Although it's always been possible to recycle used PCs and other electronics, the actual process of hard drive recycling involves more than just taking your computer to your local dump. The benefits of hard drive recycling are manifold, and luckily for you, we've taken the time to compile a list of the top ten reasons why you should recycle your old hard drives . 1. Hard drives can be recycled more than once Recycling your hard drive is important because it prevents the toxic materials used in hard drives from going into landfills. Hard drives contain a number of toxic materials like lead, mercury, and cadmium, which can leach into the soil and water when landfilled.While these toxic materials can eventually degrade into less toxic compounds, hard drive recycling keeps these toxic materials out of the environment in the first place. Today’s day-trading computers and smartphones contain a lot of the toxic metals used in hard drive manufacturing, so using these electronics to hel...

A Guide to Hard Drive Recycling

Image
Two-day shipping and easy drop-off are rewards you will receive after you submit and receive your free hard drive and SSD. Once your hard drives and SSDs are sent off for recycling, you do not need to do anything extra. And because these devices can’t be reused, or returned to the manufacturer thanks to an encryption technology embedded into the disk, there is no risk of data loss from even just a minor physical injury. Your hard drives and SSD’s will be sent for safe disposal in just a few days, which is more convenient than bringing them into your own hands like that.  The program is operated by Western Digital and consists of several steps: for your hard drives and SSD “just like new”, simply fill out the form using the links at the bottom of the page and your drive will be safely off your hands. The least amount of steps is asking a lot, but it’s worth asking yourself how much potential harm there is to be avoided in order to make sure your hard drives and SSDs are off your tr...

How To Dispose of Hard Drives In The UK

Image
If you have a hard drive that needs recycling, you may be wondering where to dispose of it. Here are the best places to get your hard drive recycling done in the UK. The best way to dispose of hard drives – and destroy digital data that is no longer needed – is to have them physically destroyed by a professional document destruction company. This is the most effective and risk-free way to ensure information is permanently destroyed.  Domestic Hard Drive Disposal That directive makes computers using digital storage media or a hard drive that store electronic data a type of appliance (Article 22). Accessories to hard drives, such as memory, are not covered by this definition. So you’ll have to destroy your hard drive yourself by filing it, shredding it, or obliterating it. The major shredding companies with offices in the UK are Filer’s, Falcon, Datacart and Bridgepoint. Hard drives will be sent to Billetone International for destruction and certified by their staff to be destroyed o...